5th at last year's National High School Ekiden boys' race, Fukushima's Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. has withdrawn its boys' and girls' team from the Nov. 6 Tohoku Region Ekiden Championships in Fukushima. A school spokesperson commented, "We made this decision based on the likelihood of our students coming into contact with bears in the city when out running in the morning."
The Akita Athletics Association had already made an announcement on its website on Oct. 31 that due to the high number of bear encounters within the city of Akita this year, the ekiden would be held on a track instead of as a road race. Organizers said that they are leaving it up to each individual school whether to participate, and that they will accept schools choosing not to participate due to safety concerns.
Here's a better idea. Control the bears. Trap them, relocate them, etc.
The bears should not be allowed to become such a nuisance that you can't hold a high school xc season.
It has to be a nice quantity of bears for them to cancel x country. Relocating more than a few bears would throw off the natural eco system of that area.
my mining colleague had to kill 18 bears at camps thu the years, including a grizzley bear that invaded his ranch, and killed him two yards away. that grizzley had injured a few people prior, and grizz invasion of the islands off vancouver island wiped out most of the larger wild life, nearly completely.
shoot the bears that invade the town. they will learn.
leave the bears alone otherwise.
in the north, this is a game of life and death, and its a thing.
then there are cougars and wolverine ....
people from cities with no clue should shut up.
You’re afraid of being attacked by a wolverine (literally zero documented attacks on humans) and telling people to shut up in the same breath?!?